Task Force to Target Blight in Oxnard : Beautification: Officials hope to get residents and community groups involved in cleanup effort to give city a long-awaited face lift.

With their vacant lots, dilapidated houses and trash-strewn streets, many Oxnard neighborhoods are in desperate need of make-overs.

Years of poor maintenance have left residential areas and business districts looking dumpy, acknowledged a city report.

City leaders agreed Tuesday to form a beautification task force and commit to a list of measures that target blight to make Oxnard a prettier place.

One of the group’s first challenges will be to convince Oxnard residents that the city’s code enforcement regulations are a tool that could help clean up neighborhoods and improve their quality of life, city officials said.

Neighborhood councils will be asked to participate in the campaign, as well as tenants’ associations, minority advocacy groups and business leaders.

“We’re trying to establish a cadre of expertise, funding and volunteers to create a stratagem to take care of this problem,” Councilman Andres Herrera said. “There is only so much we can do. Let’s collaborate with the people who are going to be most affected by this.”

Councilman Tom Holden suggested involving private businesses--such as landscapers, painters and construction companies--to provide volunteer labor and materials.

Despite pledges to make the city better-looking, Oxnard has not allocated any money to meet its goals. All of the city’s recent cleanup efforts have been programs and projects already authorized by the City Council.

The latest drive to clean up Oxnard began during a city retreat in 1993, when council members chose beautification as one of six priorities for the 1994-95 fiscal year. Councilman Herrera and a group of city officials then devised a nine-step plan of action to combat blight.

Among the objectives were:

* Building houses in lots left vacant due to fires or condemnation.

* Offering residents financial assistance to rehabilitate their homes.

* Strengthening city codes to remove blight.

* Taking care of city-owned property.

* Helping low-income families buy homes.

The report, presented to the City Council on Tuesday, was an update of what city officials have done so far to clean up the city’s dilapidated neighborhoods and shops, and what remains to be accomplished.

Some of the goals have been reached, according to the report.

For instance, Oxnard officials reviewed the city’s codes last year and decided to adopt an ordinance requiring owners to trim unkempt yards immediately and fix facades in disrepair. The ordinance has been a success, city officials said.

And council members have begun looking for ways to allow low-income families to buy homes after a 15-year period of building little affordable housing. Several nonprofit organizations have expressed interest in developing vacant lots. Even so, nothing has yet been built, and the empty, blighted areas are still a part of many Oxnard neighborhoods and shopping districts.

Furthermore, the city has not come up with a plan to provide most residents with loans or grants to spruce up their homes. Oxnard currently has financial assistance programs only for residents of the city’s La Colonia and Southwinds neighborhoods.

“There’s a lot of work to be done, and I think the council recognized that from the beginning,” said city housing director Sal Gonzalez.

Two council members, Holden and Dean Maulhardt, will serve on the beautification task force.